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Medical marijuana hearing in NY Assembly set for Tuesday

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A young marijuana plant is shown in February at a medical-marijuana dispensary in San Jose, Calif. Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to allow limited access to medical marijuana for patients with qualifying conditions. Some state lawmakers, however, feel Cuomo's plans don't go far enough to help patients.
(David Paul Morris | Bloomberg News)

Syracuse, N.Y. -- State lawmakers, who believe Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plans for medical marijuana don't go far enough, will discuss a different approach to allowing pot use for treatment on Tuesday in Albany.

Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, D-Manhattan, plans to take up his "Compassionate Care Act" at Tuesday's Assembly Health Committee meeting. The legislation, which is co-sponsored by Sen. Diane Savino, D-Staten Island, passed the Assembly last year but failed to win over support by the Senate or Cuomo.

Cuomo has pivoted on the issue in recent days, proposing to use an existing state law to allow 20 hospitals to supervise marijuana treatment of patients with specific diagnoses. Cuomo's plan would not need approval from the New York State Legislature.

But Gottfried, a long-time champion of medical marijuana use, believes Cuomo's plan will leave out many patients whose conditions are not specified in the existing 1980 marijuana law.

Under the Gottfried/Savino plan, any practitioners with pre-approval could certify whether individual patients needed marijuana. The Health Department would also license growers and dispensaries to produce and sell the drugs to certified patients, under the lawmakers' plan.

The Health Committee meets at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Albany. I'm checking to see whether it will be webcast; please check back for updates.